


Second Time's the Charm

by orphan_account



Category: Fate/Grand Order, Fate/stay night & Related Fandoms
Genre: Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-17
Updated: 2016-01-17
Packaged: 2018-05-14 13:42:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,069
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5745958
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They're happy in this life, normal, but Karna knows Arjuna is meant to kill him here as well.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Second Time's the Charm

It's his fault,  _ he knows _ . He understands now. It may have been fate, but everything that led up to this, they were all his choices. His and his alone. 

It's strange, he thinks, because Karna would have seen right through him, made a remark about how he's finally growing up, free of malice yet no less irritating. 

But Karna won't, he  _ can't _ . He's bleeding out, head resting on Arjuna’s lap, eyes growing glassier by the second. 

Arjuna makes promise after promise (lies, all lies unbefitting of a former prince) that surely someone will come, that he called an ambulance, it should be here any second now. It's all in vain, of course, but even knowing this, Arjuna waits. He waits and waits and waits. 

He sits still as a crowd gatherers, recording this moment like they have any right to it, none of them doing more than half-hearted “did anyone call 911“s. 

He wants to shout at them, scream at them to back off but he can't. Any movement on his side would only aggravate Karna’s condition. And as a human, without any divine gifts that's more than he can afford. 

It isn't long until Karna’s labored breathing comes to a stop altogether, and no matter how hard Arjuna tries neither it nor his heartbeat restart. 

It's strange, he realizes between one fruitless chest compression and the next. It's strange how well he's accepting all this. Only hours ago, he had been Arjuna Devi, high school senior. A boy whose biggest concern was whether Princeton would like his application or not. 

Maybe it's his spiritual upbringing that doesn't find any of this outside the realm of “believable”or perhaps it's Karna that drives all other thoughts out of his mind.    
  


Reincarnation is something Karna’s heard multiple times growing up. He remembers his mother (the new plainer one) yelling at how he'd be a [I have no idea how to spell cocroach, correct later] in his next life if he didn't clean up his room. He remembers the pandit at the local temple, murmuring hymns, praying that they'd pass over to somewhere better. 

And so when he wakes up, seven years old and filled with centuries of terrifying memories, he simply accepts it. And when he feels an ache in his chest by looking at his baby brother, the gods whispering that it is not over, he finds comfort in crying himself to sleep.    
  


 

Arjuna grows, brave, intelligent, handsome, the apple of any parents’ eye. And proud of them, they are. Every one of father's words is filled with praise for his younger son, and mother's schedule seems to revolve around him nowadays. 

It's nice, Karna thinks. It's strange to be in an atmosphere so loving, where he may be forgotten (despite the benefit of his memories, he never had formal education) but a part of something nonetheless, where he doesn't have to be the world's greatest warrior to fit in. 

Speaking of strange things, Arjuna is the most puzzling of all. The Arjuna from his memories, the peerless archer (proud yet weary to his core), is far different from this young boy who looks up at him with stars in his eyes, that demands Karna’s drawings go on the fridge next to his own. 

But what sets them apart is how this Arjuna is unfailingly, refreshingly honest. He says what he means, only holding reservations out of kindness. 

And looking back, maybe that's why Karna left, his suitcase packed and legal papers in hand the moment he turned eighteen. 

He is lucky, favored even, to be gifted with so many things he never thought possible. But his heart continues to beat, counting down the few moments he has left, and by now Karna has learnt what it means to have too much of a good thing. 

 

Arjuna hates his brother. He doesn't mean to, he doesn't even want to, he just does. 

His first few memories are not of his mother (not that he doesn't love her of course) but of Karna. 

Karna, who is seven years older than him (an insurmountable distance when he was a child), yet acted as if they were equals. 

Karna, who understood him more than anyone else (whom he could never tell a lie to), yet constantly treated him like a stranger. 

Karna, who told him he cared about him, how he loved him, yet ran far far away the moment he legally could. 

There are many things, Arjuna will never understand about his brother, and he has accepted that. 

Hatred is simple, an easy enough concept to understand. 

(For you see, when you hate someone, you don't cry and beg them to come back.) 

  
  


Arjuna is crying again. He was never a pretty crier (and only grows indignant when it's pointed out). 

Karna reaches up to brush away the tears ( _it's alright, I don't hate you, my heart hurts less now_ ) but his arm stops halfway, flopping uselessly onto Arjuna’s sweater. 

(The ultimate warrior and too weak, far far too weak, for even this.) 

The blood seeps through the fabric, staining it irrevocably, red on white, sticky, warm, and so so quiet. 

Everything is a haze, a blur of sounds, shapes, and colors, with Arjuna as the sole exception. He cradles Karna’s body close, whispering apologies and reassurances (“there will be an ambulance coming any second now, please just hold on a bit more,  _ please _ ”) in the same breath. 

But this is the end, Karna knows it, has known it for a while. Even if an ambulance comes, takes him to the hospital, keeps him alive, the gods will just find another way to make Arjuna strike him down again. 

(And honestly speaking, Karna doesn't think he could bear it a third time.) 

Arjuna, though, will remember the truth soon enough, he always does. And then… 

And then, he'll remember his mortal enemy, the rival he hated so much, instead of the older brother who held his held and kissed him goodnight. 

It won't make him happy, Karna knows how difficult a task that is, but maybe, just maybe, it'd give him a sort of peace. The knowledge that this, yes  _ this _ , was something he had to do. 

And Karna smiles through the tears, past the agony, smiles as his heart thuds with fear (a last quick rush before a permanent stop). 

Let him believe that Karna was at peace too. 


End file.
